The Romance Of 
American Life And Progress 



ROBERT L. WEBB 




Copyright ]s'^.. 



CjOfYRIGHT DEPOSm 



THE 
ROMANCE OF AMERICAN 
LIFE AND PROGRESS 



THE 
ROMANCE OF AMERICAN 
LIFE AND PROGRESS 



By 
Rev. ROBERT LEE WEBB, S.T. M. 

Secretary of 

The Newton Theological Institution 

and 

The Northern Baptist Education Society 



PHILADELPHIA 

THE JUDSON PRESS 

BOSTON CHICAGO ST. LOUIS LOS ANGELES 

KANSAS CITY SEATTLE TORONTO 






Copyright, 1921, by 
GILBERT N. BRINK, Secretary 

Published April, 1921 



MAY 18 1921 
§)C!.A6i4595 



*%>V^ 



INTRODUCTION 



Among the peculiar notions of our times, a no- 
tion fostered by the literature of the nations, is 
the common assumption that the romance of the 
world is confined to the peoples of Europe, that 
its chief source is in those older civilizations 
whose traditions reach back to the early Chris- 
tian centuries and even beyond that period. But 
the deeds of Amadis de Gaul, the adventures 
of the knights of King Arthur's court, the tri- 
umphs of a Bruce, and the wanderings of the 
Black Prince are not the only sources where 
may be found the wonder stories that we call 
romance. Romances of the intensest interest 
are found in this new world of the Western 
Hemisphere, Moreover, the richest and best of 
these American romances are not in the dreams 
and visions of those adventurers who sought the 
Fountain of Perpetual Youth or the gleaming 



Introduction 



walls and palaces of the Seven Cities of Cibola. 
We do not need to go to seekers after a will-o'- 
the-wisp for wonderful stories that hold our 
breathless interest, cause the blood to leap in our 
veins, and stir our imaginations. 

The air of romance envelops the discovery of 
the American Continent, the founding of the 
Colonies, the conquest of the fields and forests 
and natural resources of this oldest yet youngest 
of the continents, and, above all, it invests the 
development of the national life of the United 
States. 

Where, too, can be found men and women 
whose lives supply better material upon which 
to build entrancing romances ? 

What surprising tales can be told of John 
Smith of Virginia, of Standish of Plymouth, of 
Boone the Pioneer, of Lincoln the Rail-Splitter, 
of Dolly Madison of the White House, and of 
scores of other patriots who aided in the build- 
ing of the nation. The mists of passing years 
are already shadowing the facts in the lives of 
some of these heroes, and fanciful leg^ends are 



Introduction 



being associated with their names. Some day 
an American Walter Scott will seize upon these 
treasures of interest and inspiration, and Ameri- 
can history will be colored by the genius of the 
romancer. 

We must not be impatient, however, for this 
genius to arise. We must remember that our 
country is not a completed product ; it is still in 
the making, and no man can predict what the 
nation may become, nor what developments may 
ensue upon this continent. 

The truth is, our people have not yet had the 
time to take account of stock, to give serious 
attention to many of the finer things that we 
must possess before we attain our highest estate. 

We have been busy conquering a continent — 
driving our roads through its wildernesses and 
over its mountains, developing its material re- 
sources, building its cities, and making it a 
worthy place in which to live ourselves and rear 
our children. 

We have been trying out a new form of gov- 
ernment, a form that lays stress upon men and 



Introduction 



their individual and personal worth. In the old 
world the citizen lived for the state, but we have 
been experimenting with a new ideal, the ideal 
that the state is the creation of the people, that 
government should be "of the people, by the 
people, for the people." 

The growth of the nation in this age of be- 
ginnings and experimentation has been one of 
the miracles of the ages, a romance far exceed- 
ing in interest any deed of ancient knight or 
prince. Our purpose in the pages that follow 
is to suggest some of the steps in this romance 
of growth, to call attention to some of the nat- 
ural and providential forces that have contrib- 
uted to this unfolding: miracle of three centuries. 



CONTENTS 



CMAFIKK 



I. The Romance of Territorial Expan- 
sion I 

11. The Romance of Growing Popula- 
tion 15 

III. The Romance of Increasing Wealth 27 

IV. The Romance of Political Ideals.. 39 
V. The Romance of Religious Liberty. 55 

VI. The Romance of Manifest Destiny. 69 



THE ROMANCE OF TERRITORIAL 
EXPANSION 



THE ROMANCE OF TERRITORIAL 
EXPANSION 



IDEALLY, the American people are peace- 
loving, and presumably their principles are 
adapted to promote the irenic spirit among the 
nations. A study of the nation's history, how- 
ever, reveals this singular fact, that no other 
country has been so benefited by the conflicts 
of the world as has the United States. These 
benefits have come both from the wars in which 
America has been herself engaged, and from the 
struggles of other nations. 

Apparently every advance of our frontier line, 
every forward movement of the flag, and nearly 
every era of industrial and religious progress 
has its background in some period of warfare. 

The red scars of battle mark the romantic line 
of progress by which our territory has been ex- 
tended and the nation's standard carried south- 
ward and westward, until it has become true of 
America — as it is true of Great Britain — that 
the *' sun never sets upon the flag." 

[3] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

Very soon after the period of American dis- 
covery, four great nations became rivals for 
leadership in the western world — Great Britain, 
France, Holland, and Spain. 

The colonies of France were planted along 
the St. Lawrence River and down the Great 
Lakes, and then followed the line of the Ohio 
River. They were largely trading-stations or 
military posts, and were governed by officials 
sent from the home country. 

Great Britain planted her colonies in New 
England, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. 
They were composed largely of home-seekers 
who made permanent settlements and were prac- 
tically independent in local affairs. 

Holland held the important point of New 
York, so that the vast estates of her *' patroons," 
extending up the Hudson River to Albany, 
formed a wedge between the English colonies. 

Spain claimed the whole Western Hemisphere 
by virtue of the decree of the Pope, but her set- 
tlements were all in the southern part of the 
continent. 

The process by which these colonies were 
united, and the vast territory brought under the 
dominion of the one race and one flag, is of sur- 
passing interest. 

[4] 



The Romance of Territorial Expansion 

For ten years previous to 1664, England and 
the Netherlands were at peace. Under the 
witchery of desired peace conditions the States 
General at Amsterdam felt secure, and did not 
strengthen the defenses of the new settlements 
in America. The English king, Charles II, was 
not satisfied, however, with conditions. He and 
his advisers believed that the Dutch at New 
Netherlands were trespassers in America, and 
plans were made secretly to dispossess them. A 
strong expedition was organized to cooperate 
with forces from the colonies, and on August 
28, 1664, this expedition appeared in the Lower 
Bay and summoned the Province to surrender. 

The Dutch Governor, Peter Stuyvesant, was a 
gallant old gentleman, but the colony was evi- 
dently helpless, and on September eighth the 
white flag was unfurled over Fort Amsterdam. 

The rule of Holland in America was at an 
end, and the wedge between the English colo- 
nies driven out, but the advantage was paid for 
in the dreadful carnage of the ensuing war; and 
England suffered, as John Fiske reminds us, 
" the sorest military humiliation she has ever 
known since William the Norman landed in Sus- 
sex." 

Fiske says of this event : " It gave to the 

[5] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

English the command of the commercial and 
military center of the Atlantic coast of North 
America; and by bringing New England into 
closer relations with Virginia and Maryland, it 
prefigured and made possible a general union of 
Atlantic States." 

The Seven Years W^ar, known in American 
annals as the French and Indian War, was of 
tremendous historic significance to the English 
colonies. The dark tragedy of Braddock's de- 
feat, the heroic death of Wolfe at Quebec, the 
pathetic story of the Acadians, and other inci- 
dents of that savage struggle deeply affected the 
American mind. But affecting as these experi- 
ences were, they nevertheless brought some posi- 
tive benefits to the colonies. For the first time 
the colonies w^ere really aw^akened to their com- 
munity of interests, while incidentally some of 
their military and political leaders were trained 
for the rapidly approaching struggle for inde- 
pendence. 

The close of the war in 1763 witnessed an 
event memorable in American history, an event 
that has been tremendously significant in the 
development of this great republic. On Feb- 
ruary 10 the representatives of the warring gov- 
ernments signed the treaty of peace at Paris. By 

[6] 



The Romance of Territorial Expansion 

that treaty France ceded to Great Britain the 
provinces of Canada and all her territorial pos- 
sessions east of the Mississippi River. 

This action, one of the most significant events 
in human history, assured the dominance of the 
English language and English ideals and cus- 
toms on the American continent. 

The setting was laid for the birth of that 
*' new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated 
to the proposition that all men are created equal." 

The independent spirit developed by the sepa- 
ration from the conservative institutions of 
Europe, fostered by the pioneer conditions in 
America, and strengthened by the activities of 
the colonial wars, came to its logical conclusion 
in 1776. The American Revolution was not 
only the rebellion of a proud and liberty-loving 
people against the injustice of foolish, blunder- 
ing rulers, it was in many respects a fratricidal 
strife. Neighbor met neighbor, brother met 
brother in a test of loyalty; one party loyal to 
a king, the other loyal to a country ; one uphold- 
ing the divine rights of a government three 
thousand miles away, the other standing for the 
divine rights of human liberty, of which the 
ideals had been developing in the minds of men 
since the advent of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. 

[7] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

The sacrifices of the men of Bunker Hill and 
Yorktown, of Princeton and Valley Forge, were 
the birth-pangs whereby America was born into 
the family of the nations. 

By the treaty of 1763 France had ceded to 
Spain her claims to territory west of the Mis- 
sissippi; but in 1800 Napoleon forced Spain to 
return these possessions to France. But France 
did not retain long her sovereignty. Napoleon's 
wars were proving expensive, France's treasury 
was empty, and funds were needed to carry for- 
ward many projects. Moreover, as Napoleon 
did not command the seas, it was impossible 
for him to protect extended possessions very 
far away from the European continent. Napo- 
leon's war needs became America's opportunity, 
and in 1803 the immense territory known as the 
Louisiana Purchase was secured for the sum of 
sixty million francs. Out of the vast areas of 
this purchase have been carved some of the 
greatest States in the Union; and in that valley 
a mighty civilization has arisen. Agriculturally 
it is the garden spot of the nation, while its 
mountains supply us with many of our precious 
metals. 

In 1812 occurred what has been called the 
" Second War of Independence," a war that won 

[8] 



The Romance of Territorial Expansion 

for the nation the freedom of the seas, strength- 
ened the movement for industrial independence 
from Europe, and prepared the way for the time 
when the products of American fields and fac- 
tories should become staples in the markets of 
the world. 

The war with Mexico brought to the United 
States still further acquisitions of valuable ter- 
ritory. In addition to Texas, whose relation to 
the Union was fixed by the war, the United 
States secured by treaty or purchase the mighty 
stretches of territory embraced in the States of 
Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and Cali- 
fornia. The very same year, 1848, gold was 
discovered in California, and soon prairie and 
desert were flecked with long lines of the white- 
covered wagons of the emigrants, w^iile towns 
and cities sprang up as by magic. When we 
consider the conditions in Mexico at the present 
time, w^e can only wonder what would have 
happened in that marvelous Southwest country, 
if it had not been brought under the aegis of the 
Stars and Stripes. 

The contribution of the Civil War to the wel- 
fare and prosperity of the nation cannot be de- 
scribed. We sometimes hear it said that the 
fratricidal strife would not have occurred if the 

[9] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

North had made a few more concessions or the 
South had not been so hot-headed. The truth 
is, the conflict was written upon our institutions 
and life from the beginning. Side by side were 
two trends of civilization, one founded on slavery, 
the other on free labor; two ideas of liberty, one 
liberty for a class, the other liberty for all; two 
principles of government, one of State's rights, 
the other of strong central government. 

These conflicting ideals of civilization, lil>erty, 
and government could not abide at the same 
time in the same country and government. 

The war, contested so long and so bitterly, 
settled forever the contention that America was 
a free country, with liberty for all; that it was 
not a confederation of independent States but a 
nation — " one and indivisible." 

With the close of this struggle, so significant 
in its political effects, the United States entered 
upon an era of marvelous industrial expansion, 
an expansion that prepared it to meet the exigen- 
cies of a world w^ar in later years. America of 
19 1 8 owed its strategic position industrially, its 
ability to meet the world's demands for mate- 
rial supplies and moral leadership, to the im- 
petus that it received through its struggle for 
freedom and unity in 1 861 -1865. 

[10] 



The Romance of Territorial Expansion 

In 1898 the Spanish War engaged the atten- 
tion of the nation. If we measure this war by 
the standards of the battles in the Civil War 
or the World War the struggle may seem of 
minor importance. 

It is true there were no bloody engagements 
like A.ntietam or Gettysburg, no titanic encoun- 
ters comparable to the Marne or the Argonne, 
and yet the results were of momentous import, 
and foretold the day when the nation would 
enter a larger arena. When the flag was set up 
over Porto Rico and the Philippines, it served 
notice on the world that we were forsaking our 
policy of " splendid isolation " and assuming a 
place as a world power. Plad Kaiser William 
and his advisers read aright the message con- 
veyed by 1898 they would not have committed 
such unpardonable blunders in dealing with the 
American Government nor have misunderstood 
so completely the temper of our people. 

The romantic chivalry that led the American 
people to take up arms for oppressed Cuba was 
the prophecy of that splendid knightly spirit 
with which they answered the call of ravished 
Belgium, heroic France, and hard-pressed En- 
gland and their allies in the fight for freedom 
and democracy. 

[n ] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

When General Pershing placed the wreath 
upon the tomb of Lafayette and cried out, 
*' Lafayette, we are here," he personified the real 
attitude of this Great Republic. 

The spirit voice of the great Frenchman, who 
had aided so gallantly the infant nation in its 
struggle for independence, had met its response 
in the hearts of our citizens; and America was 
paying its debt of knightly honor. 

Never has prophet's visioning or poetic dream- 
ing conceived an adventure so lofty in its ideal- 
ism — a great nation deliberately entering upon 
a crusade to free the world of tyranny, to feed 
its hungry multitudes, to minister to its broken 
spirit, to stand by the nations in their Geth- 
semane hour, and to establish order and freedom 
and democracy in a civilization that tyrants and 
self-seekers had brought to chaos and ruin. 

America was absolutely magnanimous in the 
undertaking, and yet it has received marvelous 
rewards, politically, materially, spiritually. The 
treasures of the world have flowed into our 
storehouses. Wall Street has taken the place of 
Bond Street as the world's financial center, 
Washington statesmen are watched as closely as 
those at London, or Paris, or Berlin, and both 
Orient and Occident confess their dependence 

[12] 



The Romance of Territorial Expansion 

upon America for material assistance and moral 
and spiritual leadership. 

Chivalrous self-devotion to an exalted ideal 
and enterprise has repaid the nation a hundred- 
fold. Keeping the soul of the nation foremost 
has brought our people face to face with superb 
opportunity and regal destiny. 



[13] 



II 



THE ROMANCE OF GROWING 
POPULATION 



THE ROMANCE OF GROWING 
POPULATION 



THE remarkable territorial expansion of the 
United States has been fully matched by the 
rapid increase in its population. In 1790 the 
population numbered 3,929,214, and in 1920, 
according to the latest estimates of the United 
States Census Bureau, it is 105,683,108 in the 
continental territory alone. Alaska and the 
colonies would add 716,659 square miles to the 
territory and nearly 11,000,000 to the popula- 
tion. New York City itself has grown so rap- 
idly that it has outdistanced London, and is 
ranked as the largest city in the world. 

The racial character of this tremendous and 
fast-growing population is of deep concern to 
every American, to every man who loves the 
Republic. 

No modern nation is of absolutely pure- 
blooded stock. All races, especially the coloniz- 
ing and conquering nationalities, are blends, re- 
sulting from conquests by other peoples or from 

[17] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

migrations of some kind. The English people, 
the greatest of these nationalities, are a mixture 
of many races. Briton and Celt were succes- 
sively overrun by Roman and Anglo-Saxon, by 
Dane and Norman, although the strain re- 
mained predominantly Teutonic. Macaulay, in 
his '' History of England," calls attention to 
these invasions and conquests, and asserts that: 
'' In no country has the enmity of race been 
carried further than in England. In no country 
has that enmity been more completely effaced." 

In America this blending of blood is proceed- 
ing upon a scale unprecedented in human his- 
tory. The process began at the very dawning 
of civilization upon this continent. 

In the early colonial days the English were 
overwhelming in numbers and influence, but 
there were many Dutchmen in New York, Ger- 
mans and Swedes in Pennsylvania, and French 
Huguenots and Scotch and Irish everywhere. 
Naturally the English were in the ascendency, 
but the r\merican type shows unmistakably the 
influence of these other races, while American 
institutions are indebted to them in larger mea- 
sure than the average citizen supposes. Yankee 
ingenuity, adaptability, political ideas, and love 
of religious freedom were not entirely the re- 

[i8] 



The Romance of Growing Population 

suits of an inherited English type modified by 
the environment of a new continent. 

The passing of the years has increased enor- 
mously the number and strength of the racial 
elements entering into our national make-up un- 
til Phillip James Bailey's words are absolutely 
true : 

America! half-brother of the world! 

With something good and bad of every land. 

Since the Declaration of Independence twen- 
ty-three millions of aliens have entered our land. 

In 191 7 Doctor Laidlaw, Secretary of the 
Federation of Churches for New York City, 
prepared the following suggestive tabulation: 

Descendants of whites enumerated in 1790 38,828,000 

Descendants of emigrants, 1820-1880 17,687,952 

Native whites of foreign parentage 21,581,329 

Foreign-born whites 14,662,261 

Total whites 92,759.542 

Indians, negroes, Asiatics, etc 10,875,758 

These figures are estimates only, but they are 
approximately correct and reveal the seriousness 
of the task of Americanization. 

The diverse character of this foreign element 
presents the real problem : 

During the early years of our corporate ex- 

[19] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

istence, and until about 1880, the immigration 
was largely from races allied by blood to the 
earlier stock. Of recent years new racial types 
have been coming to us, types that bear less re- 
semblance to our citizenship — Greeks and Ital- 
ians, Poles arid Slovaks, Magyars, Bulgarians, 
Lithuanians, Armenians, Syrians — men and 
women of strange lands, odd lang-uages, peculiar 
customs, and different bloods have been drawn 
to our shores. 

Americans do not need to travel far to study 
the temper, ideals, and life habits of other na- 
tions. Nearly all of our great cities have their 
Chinatown, where dreamy-eyed celestials wor- 
ship in their pagan temples; their Little Italy, 
in whose streets the English language is not 
spoken; and their Russian or Polish-Jewish set- 
tlement, where the kosher meat is still required 
and the voice of the rabbi is heard reading from 
the ancient law and speaking in a strange tongue. 

The recently published Survey of New York 
City by the " Interchurch World Survey Com- 
mittee " says : '* Fill St. Louis with Russians ; 
San Francisco with Italians; Milwaukee with 
Austro-Hungarians ; Philadelphia with Jews ; 
group them together in the New York metro- 
politan area, and the sum will represent only 

[20] 



The Romance of Groiving Population 

two-thirds of the foreign-speaking peoples and 
their children who live in the foreign quarters 
and congested sections of New York." 

The truth is that in New York City alone there 
are more Italians than in Rome, more Germans 
than in any city of Germany except Berlin and 
Hamburg, more Jews than have ever been gath- 
ered in one community since the destruction of 
Jerusalem, and more Irish than in Dublin, Bel- 
fast, and Cork combined — in fact there are more 
people of Irish stock in the United States than 
in Ireland. 

The reasons back of this migration to Amer- 
ica are many, some of them complex, some 
rooted deep in the heart longings and soul needs 
of the race. The writer of the future American 
historical romance or philosophical history will 
find material and inspiration in tracing the gen- 
esis and results of these mighty currents of the 
world's life. 

Some of these venturesome souls have been 
moved by the same divine impulse that fired the 
souls of the Plymouth Pilgrims — those stout- 
hearted, devoted men and women who counted 
not the cost if they might worship God as con- 
science dictated. 

Others, especially those who came in the first 

[21] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

half of the nineteenth century, fled from their 
homelands to escape political persecutions. 

The most influential reasons back of this hegira 
have been social and economic. Every town and 
hamlet in the Old World was told the news of 
the higher wages paid in America, the better 
living conditions, the opportunity for education 
and advancement, and the comparative freedom 
that might be enjoyed. The New World seemed 
as a '' promised land flowing with milk and 
honey." 

Out of the West came the call, and the East 
responded as the trees and flow^ers respond to 
the warming rains and sunshine of the early 
spring. 

We must not suppose, however, that these 
great numbers entering our land have been clear 
gain to our body politic. These people have 
brought to America vast social, industrial, po- 
litical, and religious problems, problems that will 
require for their solution generations of patient, 
wise, self-sacrificing patriotism. Some well- 
known economists have doubted also if they 
have made any real contribution in numbers 
to our population. It is asserted that they have 
influenced unfavorably the birth-rate of the orig- 
inal native stock, that if this vast immigration 

[22] 



The Romance of Growing Population 

had never occurred the more favorable condi- 
tions surrounding the native stock would have 
resulted in a population just as large as we have 
at present. 

Whether these conjectures are true or not, 
we face the fact that these people are here, and 
that they form a large and influential element 
in our country. In politics, in business, in in- 
dustry, in social customs, in religious activities, 
their voices may be heard, many times vocifer- 
ously clamoring for what they conceive to be 
their rights. 

We have been asked many times, " What shall 
we do with these foreign born? " The real ques- 
tion is, ** What will these people do with us?" 
How will they influence the native stock ? What 
changes, if any, will they bring into our social 
order, our political relationships and principles, 
and our religious theories and ideals? 

In writing of the grouping and segregating 
of these people in the cities Robert Hunter tells 
us: ''To live in one of these foreign communi- 
ties is actually to live on foreign soil. The 
thoughts, feelings, and traditions which belong 
to the mental life of the colony are often entirely 
alien to an American." 

We see now that to permit this segregation 

[23] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

or colonization of aliens, as Mr. Hunter esteems 
it, has been a fundamental mistake in our na- 
tional policy. As long as these communities 
exist as foreign communities they will remain 
danger-points in our body politic, breeders of 
a corrupting discontent with our life and govern- 
ment. 

If we would protect ourselves and save these 
people we must hasten the time when these for- 
eign neighborhoods cease to exist as entities, the 
foreign language passes out of existence as the 
common means of communication between them, 
and assimilation becomes so complete that their 
peculiar racial characteristics cease to set them 
off from the rest of our citizens. 

This process of Americanization will take 
time, but it is proceeding with astonishing rapid- 
ity. The school and the church, politics and 
industry, are all cooperating. There was a time 
in our history when names suggested govern- 
mental allegiance, but now Perron and Latoski 
and Rabinowitz may be just as fine types of 
American citizens as Smith and Allen and Green, 
and the sons and daughters of these " one-time 
aliens " are taking leadership in our schools and 
rising to places of power in politics and com- 
merce and industry. 

[24] 



The Romance of Growing Population 

As a people we have achieved many things 
worth while in practical lines, and essayed some 
things in literature and art. The practical blood 
strain that has produced our captains of indus- 
try, our inventive geniuses, and our leaders of 
political and material empires, has not been ex- 
hausted, and will maintain our supremacy in 
these lines. 

But what will come out of the combination 
when we add to our splendid native strain the 
religious spirit of the Slav, the musical genius 
of the Pole, the philosophic patience of the Ger- 
man, the scientific ability of the French, the 
artistic sense of the Italian, and the business 
acumen of the Jew of every nationality ? Surely 
the superman, if he is ever produced, will find 
his birthplace under the Stars and Stripes. 

We have been looking to the past for our 
artistic ideals and great masters, and we still sit 
at the feet of the ancient teachers of philosophy. 
Is it hoping for too much to expect that in 
future time we may see here in America a new 
Phidias entrancing us by his idealization of the 
human form, a twentieth-century Raphael de- 
lighting us with his uplifting products of the 
brush, a Yankee Socrates or Plato or Aristotle 
teaching a new philosophy that will synthetize 

[25] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

the principles of past learning and give new in- 
terpretation of the world, or an American Paul 
who will take the great utterances of the Man 
of Nazareth and through them breathe new life 
into our religious forms and principles. 



[26 



Ill 



THE ROMANCE OF INCREASING 
WEALTH 



THE ROMANCE OF INCREASING 
WEALTH 



IT is eternally true that the highest measures 
of a nation are its men and its principles. 
Leadership in many realms of life is not depen- 
dent upon large population or great material 
resources. Greece could never boast of her size 
or physical strength, but again and again she 
saved Europe from the overrunning hordes of 
Asia; and mentally and artistically she led the 
world for generations. Judea was never a large 
territory, and its kings were never powerful, as 
compared with their rivals in Egypt and Assyria 
and Babylon, and yet, it conquered the world 
through its religious idealism, and men of every 
tongue confess their indebtedness to the Jew. 

Moreover we must never forget that moral 
and religious forces are the supreme determina- 
tive factors in controlling the affairs and direct- 
ing the progress of mankind. Men and nations 
alike are swayed by these silent and sometimes 
unrecognized influences. The two most signifi- 

[ 29 ] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

cant migrations of the race — the migration of 
Abraham and his family from Chaldea, and the 
migration of the Pilgrims from England to Hol- 
land and thence to America — were responses to 
the imperatives of the religious impulse. 

While these things are true, we must recognize 
also the significance of extended territory and 
large natural resources in the age-long struggle 
of the races for supremacy. A nation may be 
born in a day as the result of the agonizing con- 
flicts of the world, but if it is worth anything 
as a national entity, it anticipates a long existence 
of constantly increasing strength and power. 
The longing for a '' place in the sun," the de- 
sire to share in the world's leadership and work, 
is to be expected of every progressive and worth- 
while nation. But such hopes and ambitions to 
be realized must have their roots in God-given 
stores of material resources — in rich mines in 
the hills, fertile fields to grow food, and rivers 
and brooks to furnish power for industrial ac- 
tivities. Nations cannot live on ideas alone. 
Men must have food and clothes, homes in which 
to live, and means of transportation and com- 
munication. Men may be willing to labor and 
sacrifice for principle, but the wail of a hungry 
child may destroy the morale of multitudes. 

[30] 



The Romance of Increasing Wealth 

Fifty years ago a favorite topic for debate 
in the corner grocery was the question, " Has 
any nation the power to live to itself, to close 
its doors and subsist upon its own resources?" 
The tariff wars of the nations and the possi- 
bility of embargoes upon exports and imports 
made the question something more than a mere 
theoretical topic for debate. And this question 
has an intensely practical bearing today. It is 
considered in the chancellories of the world, and 
upon its answer are determined policies of war- 
fare and statesmanship. In the World War the 
Allies stood in the shadow of defeat when, for 
a little time, the submarines of Germany were 
sinking carrying ships so fast that England 
faced a food crisis and, according to reports, 
had only a fortnight's supplies for her people. 
Germany herself was defeated, not altogether by 
the might of armies, but by her inability to feed 
and clothe her people and to obtain raw mate- 
rials to manufacture military supplies. 

It is probable that at the present time only 
two of the so-called great nations, Russia and 
the United States, have the resources within 
themselves to maintain their people, independent 
of supplies from beyond their lK>rders. Russia 
can do this partly because her natural resources 

[31] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

are large and partly because her standard of 
living is so low that the absolute needs of the 
masses of her people are few and simple. The 
standards of living in the United States are 
much higher than in other countries, but her re- 
sources are tremendous and her territory so large 
as to include practically all climates, thus giving 
variety to her products. Undoubtedly she could 
feed and clothe her people with comparative 
comfort for an indefinite length of time. 

When the Pilgrims entered upon their great 
adventure at Plymouth, and the Cavaliers took 
up their abode at Jamestown, they were largely 
dependent upon the supply ships from the home- 
land; but it was not long before the currents of 
trade, especially in raw materials, were changed, 
and flow^ed from America to Europe. 

At first it was lumber, fish, and sassafras, furs, 
tobacco, and corn, but as time passed staple after 
staple was added, until at the present time our 
fields and factories and mines produce every- 
thing that the world really needs. 

A recent article in one of our newspapers as- 
serted that 

While the United States has onh' six per cent, of the 
population of the world and only seven per cent, of the 
land, it produces sixty per cent, of the world's supply of 

[32] 



The Romance of Increasing Wealth 



copi)er, forty per cent, of the world's supply of lead, fifty 
per cent, of the world's supply of zinc, sixty per cent, of 
the world's supply of aluminum, sixt>--six per cent, of the 
world's supply of oil, seventy-five per cent, of the world's 
supply of corn, sixty per cent, of the world's supply of 
cotton, forty per cent, of the world's supply of silver, fifty- 
two per cent, of the world's supply of coal, forty per cent, 
of the world's supply of iron and steel, twenty per cent, of 
the world's supply of gold, eighty-five per cent, of the 
world's supply of automobiles and twenty-five per cent, of 
the world's supply of wheat. 

A bulletin of the Department of Agriculture 
gives us some astonishing figures concerning our 
agricultural productions in the year 19 19. The 
area of harvested crops was 359,124,473 acres. 
Basing the value upon prices paid to the farmers 
on December i, 19 19, the Bulletin gives the pro- 
duction and value as follows : 

(Production in bushels except where otherwise specified.) 
Corn. 2.917,450,000 and $3,934,234,000. 
Winter wheat, 731,636,000 and $1,543,452,000. 
Spring wheat, 29,351,000 and $458,020,000. 
Oats, 1,248,310,000 and $895,603,000. 
Barley, 165,719,000 and $200,419,000. 
Rye, 88,478,000 and $119,041,000. 
Buckwheat, 16.301,000 and $24,026,000. 
Flaxseed, 8,919,000 and $39,145,000. 
Rice, 41,059,000 and $109,513,000. 
Potatoes, 357,901,000 and $577,581,000. 
Sweet potatoes, 103.579,000 and $138,085,000. 
Hay (tame), 91,326,000 tons and $1,839,967,000. 
Hay (wild), 17,340,000 tons and $289,120,000. 

[33] 



Tfie Romance of American Life and Progress 

Tobacco, 1,389,458,000 pounds and $542,547,000. 

Cotton, 11,030,000 bales and $1,977,073,000. 

Cottonseed, 4,898,000 tons and $355,810,000. 

Sugar beets, 6,396,860 tons and $68,750,000. 

Beet sugar, 1,527,696,000 pounds, value not given. 

Maple sugar, and syrup (as sugar) 41,505,000 pounds and 

$11,172,000. 
Peanuts, 83,263,000 and $79,839,000. 
Beans (6 States), 11,488,000 and $40,141,000. 
Onions (11 States), 12,833,500 and $27,397,000. 
Cabbage (29 States), 443,400 tons and $24,955,000. 
Cranberries (3 States), 541,000 barrels and $4,520,000. 
Apples (total), 147,457,000 and $275,^63,000. 
Peaches, 51,340,000 and $97,528,000. 
Oranges (California and Florida), 23,916,000 boxes and 

$64,169,000. 

Our manufacturing industries have of course 
increased enormously in the last few years. The 
figures for 19 19 simply for our exports are as 
follows : 

Foodstuffs, partly or wholly manufactured. . . .$1,785,179,560 
Manufactures for further use in manufactur- 
ing 9.S2,775,871 

Manufactures ready for consumption 2,384,801,297 

For the same year our total exports were valued at 
$7,074,011,529 and our imports at $3,095,876,582. 

These figures are so overwhelming that they 
create an impression of inexhaustibility. And 
it is tnie that if we could command the labor 
and the means of transportation America could 

[34] 



The Romance of Increasing Wealth 



supply the world with practically everything that 
it actually needs for its material comfort. 

The natural wealth of our country before the 
war was equal to the combined wealth of Eng- 
land, France, and Germany, and this superiority 
has doubtless been increased during the war 
period. The " Interchurch Survey " estimates 
the w^ealth of New York City alone at fifty bil- 
lions of dollars, a sum larger, according to the 
latest statistics available, than the combined 
wealth of Italy, Belgium, Serbia, Roumania, 
Canada, Turkey, and Bulgaria. It is not sur- 
prising that occasionally some of the nations are 
envious of America's wealth and power. 

And this accumulation of wealth, an accumu- 
lation so immense that no romancer of the past 
ever dreamed of it, has been achieved in less 
than three hundred years. The Pilgrims and 
the Cavaliers, the Huguenots and the Dutch 
brought to this new world very little more than 
their courageous faith, stout hearts, and willing 
hands. The New Continent, so richly endowed 
by the Creator, supplied everything beyond these 
personal possessions. The mighty stretches of 
virgin forests invited men to test their values, 
the millions of acres of sun-kissed prairie called 
them to prove their richness by plow and har- 

[35] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

row, the hills and mountains summoned them 
to pierce their bosoms for hidden stores of pre- 
cious metal, and the rushing streams of crystal 
water on their way from the hidden spring in 
the mountain valley to the inviting depths of 
lake and ocean cried out, " Use our power to 
turn the wheels of mill and factory." 

The challenge of material possibilities accepted 
by our people has placed the nation in unques- 
tioned supremacy of material strength as the 
colossus of the nations. 

Can imagination picture for us anything more 
wonderful than is witnessed daily by our people? 
The curling smoke of a million factories stream- 
ing up to heaven, the long trains carrying pre- 
cious coal rushing down the mountain slopes to 
the seaboard, the whir of unnumbered threshing- 
machines in the West beating out the golden 
grain from the wheat head, the masses of weary 
toilers wending their way homeward in the quiet 
of the evening hour — these and a thousand 
things like unto them, witness to our people the 
strength and glory of the nation. 

In Millet's Angelus the reverent attitude of 
the simple peasants in the field speaks to your 
imagination so suggestively that you seem to 
hear the far-off tones of the vesper bell both 

[36] 



The Romance of Increasing Wealth 

calling the faithful to pray and proclaiming the 
simple faith of their land ; so some day the poet 
and the romancer will seize upon these indica- 
tions of our national spirit and character, and 
portraying them in the colors of romantic 
genius, will suggest to the world the vision of 
our marvelous growth. 

O beautiful for spacious skies, 

For amber waves of grain, 
For purple mountain majesties 
Above the fruited plain. 
America ! America ! 
God shed his grace on thee 
And crown thy good with brotherhood 
From sea to shining sea. 



[37] 



IV 



THE ROMANCE OF POLITICAL 
IDEALS 



THE ROMANCE OF POLITICAL 
IDEALS 



IT must be accepted as an axiom that so long 
as society exists the state as an organization 
must exist. Government of some kind is a per- 
manent need of the race to control appetites and 
passions and to direct affairs for the welfare 
of mankind. The forms of government, its 
functions, and the legitimate ends that it may 
seek may be matters of dispute, but only the 
theoretical anarchist will argue for the abolition 
of all government. A world of men without 
government is inconceivable, but if this impos- 
sibility ever became conceivable or came to pass, 
it would plunge the race into an abyss of horrors. 
But under no circumstances could such an in- 
expressible condition last long, for natural lead- 
ers would soon forge to the front and assert 
their authority. The world has agreed, however, 
that some form of organization is necessary for 
the perpetuation of society; and wise men and 
statesmen in all asfes have busied themselves in 



'fc>' 



[41] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

devising appropriate methods and fonns. The 
results of these studies, as expressed in history, 
reveal three general types of conceptions of 
government. 

The first of these types, the type seen in the 
ancient Roman Empire, made the state itself the 
supreme thing, an end in itself. The people be- 
longed to the state, and their rights and privi- 
leges, when they had any, were conferred as 
favors by the government. 

The second type resembles the first in its claim 
of autocratic powder, but its view of the relation 
of the people to the government is very different. 
In this conception the people have rights, but 
they are the rights of children, children imma- 
ture in judgment and needing to be controlled 
and guided. The state stands as a benignant 
father to help and train its children. Under this 
paternal principle the rulers may be an aristo- 
cratic class, such as ruled so many parts of Eu- 
rope in feudal days, or an autocrat such as the 
recent czar of Russia or the Emperor William 
of Germany. Both extreme autocracy and ex- 
treme socialism are the logical products of this 
conception of the ideal and the function of the 
state. 

The third type, sometimes called the *' pro- 

[42] 



The Romance of Political Ideals 

tective," is fundamentally democratic and views 
government itself as a means to an end. 

This view conceives a nation not in terms of 
territory or wealth but in temis of manhood and 
womanhood. A nation consists of men, men 
who have reason and judgment and a natural 
right to individual life, liberty, and happiness. 

The purpose of government is to secure these 
rights for its citizens, to furnish them the oppor- 
tunity to make the best of their own powers 
and lives while regarding the due rights and 
privileges of others. Under this conception no- 
body is so high as to be above the law, and no 
man is so lowly that he cannot appeal to the 
law for redress against the greatest in the land. 

Such a government is necessarily a free gov- 
ernment, deriving its powers from its citizens, 
and depending upon their intelligent loyalty for 
its effectiveness. 

This general view of government is the pre- 
vailing ideal in the United States. 

The English people had been struggling to- 
ward this way of thinking for generations, but 
they had not achieved it when the period of 
American colonization began. The founders of 
our country had not been trained to these no- 
tions of the state, and the progressive develop- 

[43] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

ment of these views in the minds and hearts of 
the fathers is a stor}^ of surpassing interest. 

When the Mayflower Pilgrims reached the 
coast of America they found that their ship's 
captain, by accident or design, had made land far 
north of their intended destination near the 
mouth of Chesapeake Bay. Morton, in his 
" Memorial," asserts that Captain Jones had 
been bribed either to prevent the sailing or to 
make land where the intended settlement would 
not interfere with the Dutch at New York. The 
season was late, the weather stormy, disease 
had begun to make its appearance among them, 
and Captain Jones was surly and unwilling to 
proceed farther, so they determined to land and 
make the best of their circumstances. It was a 
worn and weary band of men and women, but 
they had stout hearts and brave souls. Nine 
weeks they had been confined to the narrow 
limits of their little vessel, and with gratitude 
and joy they beheld the land. But those pioneers 
of a new civilization were not too weary to con- 
duct affairs in an orderly manner, and to recog- 
nize that their new and unanticipated conditions 
must be met with new and wise methods. Brad- 
ford, in his journal, tells us that some of the 
strangers among them, probably the hired 

[44] 



The Romance of Political Ideals 

laborers, let fall '' discontented and mutinous 
speeches," asserting " that when they came 
ashore they would use their owne libertie; for 
none had power to command them, the patente 
they had being for Virginia, and not for New- 
england, which belonged to another Government, 
with which ye Virginia Company had nothing 
to doe." 

Recognizing the danger of this rebellion 
against authority and realizing that they must 
have some organized form of government the 
adult males gathered in the cabin of the May- 
flower, and forty-one of them signed that im- 
mortal document known as the Mayflower Com- 
pact: 

In ye name of God Amen. We whose names are under- 
writen, the loyall subjects of our dread sovereigne lord 
King James, by ye grace of God, of Great Britaine, Franc 
& Ireland king, defender of ye faith, &c. 

Haveing undertaken for ye glorie of God, and advance- 
mente of ye christian faith and honour of our king & 
countrie, a voyage to plant ye first colonic in ye North- 
erne parts of Virginia. Doe by t^lese presents solemnly & 
mutually in ye presence of God, and one of another ; cove- 
nant, & combine our selves togeather into a civill body 
politick ; for our better ordering, & preservation & further- 
ance of ye ends aforesaid ; and by vertue hearof to enacte, 
constitute, and frame such just & equall lawes, ordinances, 
Acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall 
be thought most meete & convenient for ye generall good 

[45] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

of ye Colonic; unto which we promise all due submission 
and obedience. In witnes whereof we have hereunder sub- 
scribed our names at Cap-Codd ye 11 of November, in ye 
year of ye raigne of our sovereigne lord King James of 
England, France & Ireland ye eighteenth and of Scotland 
ye fiftie fourth. An' Dom. 1620." 

This compact, signed under such strange con- 
ditions, became the basis of the constitution that 
the colony adopted, and its principles have been 
built into our nation's constitution and life. 

As the eastern slope of this continent rests 
upon a vast substratum of stone, of which 
Plymouth Rock is an outcropping, so the great 
structure of the American Constitution and civ- 
ilization rests upon the principles of that com- 
pact. Democracy, freedom, unity, order, re- 
ligion, all of these are found in that agreement 
so simple yet so profoundly wise and statesman- 
like. 

The colonists who had already settled to the 
South of New England, and those who followed 
the, Pilgrims, did not fully share these opinions 
concerning freedom, but the pioneer conditions 
under which all were compelled to live fostered 
the spirit of self-reliance and initiative from 
which real democracy is born and bred. 

The stupidity of the British kings and states- 
men contributed also to the growth of the demo- 

[46] 



The Romance of Political Ideals 

cratic spirit. The colonists reverenced the 
mother country and sought her interests most 
loyally, but, somehow, both king and Parliament 
seemed unable to understand the situation in 
the colonies or to appreciate the temper of their 
transatlantic subjects. Whenever it was possi- 
ble to make a blunder in policy they proceeded to 
make it. Charters of the colonies were altered 
or abrogated by the king, irritating laws of com- 
merce were enacted by the '' Lords of Trade," 
and unwarranted taxes imposed by Parliament. 
As the colonies had no officials representing 
them in the bodies that settled these policies, the 
people were continually protesting against them 
as unjust infringements of their rights and 
liberties. 

As the result, royal governors were in a 
chronic state of conflict with the assemblies of 
the people, and America came to be considered 
a land of turbulent and law-defying people. 
Naturally, democratic convictions steadily deep- 
ened and the gospel of freedom found an in- 
creasing number of adherents. Prophetic souls, 
like Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams, inter- 
preted these signs aright and rejoiced in what 
they foreshadowed. 

The issue came to its head April 19, 1775, 

[47] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

when British troops were sent to destroy war 
materials that the patriots had been assembling 
at Concord, and there, 

By the rude bridge that arched the ilood, 
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, 
Here once the embattl'd farmers stood, 
And fired the shot heard round the world. 

There could be but one sequence to such a con- 
flict under such conditions. One hundred and 
fifty-six years after the Pilgrims had signed 
their compact, the children of those same Pil- 
grims, supported by their fellow countrymen 
from all parts of the colonies, in congress as- 
sembled, signed another compact, another decla- 
ration of noble principles. This declaration, 
more direct and explicit than the Mayflower 
agreement, aflirmed 

That all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by 
their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among 
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, 
to secure these rights, governments are instituted among 
men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the 
governed. 

With this Declaration of Independence our 
country was born into the family of the nations 
and entered upon its splendid career. 

The announcement of the right to indepen- 

[48] 



The Romance of Political Ideals 

dence did hot mean that freedom's battle was 
won, for many sacrifices were required and many 
heroes laid down their lives before Great Britain 
gave up the effort to subdue her rebellious sub- 
jects. 

The framers of this great bill of human rights, 
and the builders of the Federal Constitution, did 
not appreciate fully the mighty sweep of the 
principles they enunciated. It soon became evi- 
dent that the nation might go farther than the 
most radical of the founders had dreamed; and 
the lines were shortly drawn between the pro- 
gressives and the strict constructionists of the 
Constitution. It also became apparent that if 
freedom and equality were to be regnant, the 
republic would some day face the issue of civil 
war. 

In 1 6 19 a Dutch man-of-war sold twenty 
negroes as slaves to the colonists in Virginia. 
It was the beginning of a mighty traffic that 
slowly but surely changed the face of American 
Society. Slavery became common in all the 
colonies, but industrial conditions were not 
favorable to its perpetuation in the North. In 
the South, where the chief occupation was agri- 
culture, the great plantations for the growing 
of cotton and tobacco needed cheap labor, and 

[49] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

slavery seemed to meet the need. The fallacy 
involved in slave labor was seen at an early day 
by some of the people, but sentiment against 
slavery did not develop in season to prevent it 
becoming a great social and industrial institution. 

Slowly but surely the social and moral con- 
science of the nation was awakened, and men 
came to see that to hold men as chattels, no 
matter of what color or race, violated the prin- 
ciples *' that all men are created equal " and en- 
dowed with the ** unalienable rights " of " life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 

Statesmen soon saw the drift of sentiment and 
began to devise compromises; but in 1858 Abra- 
ham Lincoln put the issue squarely before the 
people when he said : '' A house divided against 
itself cannot stand. I believe this government 
cannot endure permanently half slave and half 
free." 

The truth is, in a nation of free men, built 
upon equality, liberty, and unity, slavery would 
inevitably come under the ban of public opinion. 
The conflict was written upon the flag of the 
first ship that brought its cargo of slaves to 
our shores; it was foretold when the Liberty 
Bell rang out its first proclamation from the 
tower of Independence Hall; it was engraved in 

[50] 



The Romance of Political Ideals 

every red welt left upon the back of the black 
man by the slave-driver's whip. The terror, the 
dread, the uncertainty, the sacrifices of that long 
period of civil strife are still remembered by our 
people. North and South alike suffered for the 
nation's sin, but out of that suffering came a 
*' new birth of freedom " and a new and roman- 
tic devotion to our national ideals. 

This new birth of freedom, this new devotion 
to ideals, has just received its supreme test. 
When autocracy and democracy were arrayed 
against each other in a world-wide struggle, 
when kingly privilege sought to override human 
rights it was logical, inevitable, that the idealism 
of the nation should assert itself. We would 
have been untrue to our splendid past, disloyal 
to the spirit of the fathers, denying our heritage 
of principle, if we had failed to obey the voices 
that called us to go forth in knightly courage to 
aid the stricken peoples in their hour of need. 

Generations have passed since the fathers set 
up their first simple form of government, a 
mighty nation has arisen and a vast and com- 
plex civilization has been developed, but the 
fundamental principles of that early government 
are still cherished by our people. Enlarged in- 
terpretations of those principles may have been 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

accepted to meet the changing conditions of 
society, applications of them have been made, of 
which the fathers never dreamed, but the vision 
beautiful abides in the hearts of our citizens, and 
America is still " America the Beautiful." 

O beautiful for patriot dream 

That sees beyond the years i 

Thine alabaster cities gleam 
Undimmed by human tears ! 
America ! America ! 
God shed his grace on thee 
And crown thy good with brotherhood 
From sea to shining sea ! 

In past years European statesmen and diplo- 
mats have questioned the sincerity of our devo- 
tion to these national ideals. Their cynicism 
was not altogether unwarranted, for in both our 
foreign relations and our home policies there 
were acts that did not seem to conform to these 
principles. Moreover, Europe has not under- 
stood us any better than George III and his 
advisers understood our fathers. A careful 
reading of our diplomatic history would have 
shown these cynics that Americans, at least, have 
taken themselves seriously, and have sought to 
fulfil what they conceived to be their mission in 
the world. 

During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 

[ 52 ] 



The Romance of Political Ideals 

President Fillmore and both Houses of Congress 
showed their sympathy with the patriots, and 
directly interposed in behalf of Kossuth and his 
associates. 

In 1898, after diplomatic overtures had failed, 
President McKinley declared war upon Spain, 
as he himself asserted, " In the cause of human- 
ity and to put an end to the barbarities, blood- 
shed, starvation, and horrible miseries now ex- 
isting there (Cuba) and which the parties to the 
conflict are either unable or unwilling to stop or 
mitigate." 

In 1902, Secretary John Hay sought to miti- 
gate the horrors of Roumanian persecution of the 
Jews. His communication, sent to the govern- 
ment of Roumania and to the powers signing the 
Treaty of Berlin that guaranteed the integrity 
of Roumania, remarkable in its directness and 
strength, declared : 

This government cannot be a tacit party to such an in- 
ternational wrong. It is constrained to protest against the 
treatment to which the Jews of Roumania are subjected, not 
alone because it has unimpeachable grounds to remonstrate 
against the resultant injury to itself, but in the name of 
humanity. 

This same great Secretary, applying his 
famous policy of the " Monroe Doctrine and the 

[53] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

Golden Rule " to conditions in China, prevented 
the adoption by the European governments of 
" spheres of influence " in the Celestial Empire, 
and insisted upon the " open door " for all 
nations. 

The records of .\merican diplomacy abound 
in these illustrations of the purpose to exemplify 
in national policies and actions the spirit of lib- 
erty and brotherhood. America may not be free 
from fault, but she is certainly sincere in her 
desire to be true to her inherited ideals. Through 
following this gleam our country has arrived at 
her present position of power and leadership, 
and her people are stirring to the world's Mace- 
donian cry, '* Come over and help us." 



[54] 



THE ROMANCE OF RELIGIOUS 
LIBERTY 



THE ROMANCE OF RELIGIOUS 
LIBERTY 



GEOLOGICALLY North America is the 
oldest of the continents, though histor- 
ically it is the youngest. Its emergence into the 
field of history begins with the story of its dis- 
covery as told in the Sagas of the Northmen. But 
Bjorne, the Icelander, Leif Erickson, and Thor- 
wald Erickson. and their fellow voyagers, did 
not make any permanent settlements; and their 
contact made no impression upon the continent 
they discovered. The nations were not ready to 
take possession of the Western Hemisphere and 
develop its life and resources. The accounts of 
the strange lands, as given by the hardy sea- 
rovers, were buried in the sagas and legends, 
and for several centuries the civilized world 
knew nothing of the great continents that lay 
hidden in the mysteries of the Unknown sea. 

Meanwhile Europe was stirring with the con- 
sciousness of new life, and mighty events were 
taking place. 

[57] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

In 1453 Constantinople, the capital of the 
Eastern Roman Empire, fell before the conquer- 
ing march of the Moslems. As the result, the 
monks and scholars concentrated in that imperial 
city were driven from their cloisters and scat- 
tered throughout Europe and England. These 
men with their classic lore and precious manu- 
scripts mightily influenced the learning of the 
nations; and Europe entered upon the remark- 
able era of intellectual awakening of the fifteenth 
and sixteenth centuries. 

In 1455 John Gutenberg of Mentz invented 
cut metal type, and made the art of printing so 
practical that it could be used as an instrument 
for advancing the intellectual renaissance. 

During these centuries the English people were 
steadily growing in national consciousness and 
power, and disputing the leadership of the 
world with France and Spain. Henry VIII de- 
fied the Pope's authority, and in 1534 established 
the English State Church. His successor on the 
throne, Elizabeth the Virgin Queen, inspired her 
sea-captains and the gentlemen of her court to 
great achievements, and led the nation in its 
golden age of literature. In July, 1588, came 
the defeat of the Spanish Armada; and England 
became mistress of the seas, the way to the new 

[58] 



The Romance of Religious Liberty 

world was opened, and, above all, Protestantism 
was saved from the threatened blight of papal 
power as represented in Philip II of Spain. 

The spread of learning and the invention of 
printing stimulated the production of books and 
pamphlets; and translations of the Bible into the 
language of the common people soon appeared 
in France, Italy, Germany, Holland, and En- 
gland. For the first time the common people had 
direct access to the words of the Founder of the 
Christian religion and his immediate followers. 

As the result, religious awakenings and refor- 
mations were inaugurated in many sections. In 
1 52 1 Luther gave his defiance to the Diet at 
Worms, in 1525 Hiibmaier espoused the cause 
of the Anabaptists, and a little later John Calvin 
issued his epoch-making '' Institutes." 

In England, translations of the Scriptures 
were made by Wyclif, Tyndale, Coverdale, and 
other scholars, and these obtained large circula- 
tions. The new religious enthusiasm evoked 
by this fresh knowledge of the Scriptures and 
the general awakening of Europe, coupled with 
the political action of Henry VIII in separating 
the English Church from Rome, ultimately re- 
sulted in the division of Protestant England into 
three parties. 

[59] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

The first of these parties consisted of the 
adherents of the Established Church who saw 
no special reason for anxiety over the evils that 
had arisen within the Church. 

The second party, finally called Puritans, 
saw clearly the existing corruptions in the 
Church, but believed that the wisest course was 
to remain in the Church and to seek its purifica- 
tion from within. 

The third party was relatively small and seem- 
ingly without large influence or social prestige. 
It consisted of scattered congregations whose 
members were convinced that to preserve spir- 
itual life and power it was necessary to separate 
themselves from the Established Church. They 
deemed that this separation would be in the end 
for the best good of the whole Church, as it 
would direct attention to the errors and corrup- 
tions that had been permitted to exist in the 
" standing order." Some of these men were 
also the prophets of a new order, for they saw 
that the " new wine "of their spiritual experi- 
ences and principles must be poured into the 
" new bottles " of a different ecclesiastical en- 
vironment. 

These parties were all in existence in the early 
part of the seventeenth century — the period of 

[60] 



The Romance of Religious Liberty 

the first permanent English settlements in Amer- 
ica — and became represented in the new world 
development. In Virginia the Episcopal or State 
Church became dominant; in Boston and vicin- 
ity the Puritans were in the ascendency; and in 
Plymouth the Separatists found their home. A 
little later English Roman Catholics made their 
settlement in Maryland; and still later William 
Penn and the Quakers took possession of Penn- 
sylvania. 

All of these parties and sects believed that 
religion was fundamental to the State, and made 
the Church one of the institutions in the govern- 
ment they established. 

In the Pilgrims of Plymouth the religious 
spirit and ideal was especially prominent. In 
their church meeting at Leyden they thought 
and planned and prayed over the project of 
transferring their church to the new world. 
Industrial conditions in Leyden, the apprehen- 
sion over their children growing up in an alien 
atmosphere and losing their English spirit and 
ideals — a dozen such reasons may have contrib- 
uted to their decision, but the primary reason 
for leaving Leyden was religious — they desired 
a home where they might exercise their free 
principles of worship unhindered by even the 

[6i] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

indirect or silent influence of a hostile or unsym- 
pathetic community. 

Leyden was not far from England, and there 
were many ways for English persecutors to an- 
noy them and perhaps subvert their spiritual 
freedom. 

In the new colony at Plymouth the Pilgrims 
did not persecute men of other faiths, but they 
did not invite men to settle in their midst who 
would not live in accord with the religious sys- 
tem they established. They willingly granted to 
others the right to exercise religious faith in 
any way desired, but they reserved to themselves 
the same right, by expelling from their colony at 
Plymouth those " who stubbornly refused to 
comply Avith requisitions they deemed essential." 

Even this liberality in religious matters did 
not mark most of the colonies as they came into 
being. In Maryland and Pennsylvania there 
were some approaches to religious liberty, but 
Rhode Island was the only place among the early 
colonies where men were absolutely free to fol- 
low^ the convictions of their own consciences. In 
1636 Roger Williams, exiled by Massachusetts 
Puritans, w^on for himself a halu of imperish- 
able glory by daring to set up in Rhode Island a 
purely secular state, the first in the whole world. 

[62] 



The Romance of Religious Liberty 

where men could rest assured that the state would 
not interfere in matters of conscience. 

As new world conditions had fostered political 
liberty, so these same conditions contributed to 
the free spirit in religious matters. Old-world 
ecclesiasticism could not reach so conveniently 
new-world heretics; but the spirit of persecution 
did not disappear immediately. The gallows for 
witches at Salem ; the cold-hearted decree of the 
General Court of Massachusetts against Henry 
Dunster — the gentle, self-sacrificing non-con- 
formist, the first president of Harvard; the 
public flogging of Obadiah Holmes on Boston 
Common; the civil restrictions on Jews and 
Romanists in New York; the forcing of dis- 
senters in the South to build the churches of the 
Anglicans; the universal contempt and persecu- 
tion of the Quakers — these, and innumberable 
things like them, revealed the intolerance of that 
early day. 

Prior to the struggle for independence and the 
framing of the Federal Constitution, every col- 
ony, with the glorious exception of Rhode Is- 
land, maintained in its code of laws some restric- 
tion upon the religious liberty of its people. But 
these restrictions were not maintained without 
protest. Isaac Backus of Massachusetts, James 

[63] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

Manning of Rh(xie Island, John Leland of Vir- 
ginia, and other courageous religious leaders 
were outspoken in denunciation of restrictive 
laws; while wise political leaders such as Henry 
and Jefferson and Madison sought the repeal of 
obnoxious legislation. 

The breaking up of society and the ushering 
in of a new order in political administration, 
consequent upon the success of the Revolution- 
ary War, furnished an opportunity for the lovers 
of religious liberty. Baptists, under the leader- 
ship of men from Massachusetts and Virginia, 
aided by the Quakers of Pennsylvania and men 
of liberal faith from various parts of the coun- 
try, appealed to Congress and finally secured 
the passage of that First Amendment to the Con- 
stitution declaring that *' Congress shall make no 
law, respecting an establishment of religion, or 
prohibiting the free exercise thereof." 

This amendment became our national law, 
when on December 15, 1791, it was ratified by 
Virginia, the eleventh State to give assent to its 
principle. The States soon began to alter their 
State laws to conform to the principle of this 
amendment, and America became the first great 
nation to accord to its citizens absolute religious 
freedom. 

[64] 



^ . The Romance of Religious Liberty 

Occasionally there have been sporadic viola- 
tions of this principle; but these exhibitions of 
intolerance have not been received with favor by 
our people, and have usually reacted against the 
intolerant. The nation's best thinkers and wisest 
leaders have seen, as they see today, that religion 
is a personal matter, and that its virtue and power 
depend upon its voluntary character. Religion 
is necessary to the perpetuation and prosperity 
of the state for moral character, and health will 
not continue long without the sanction and in- 
spiration of religion. The state must encourage 
its people to be religious. It should not be con- 
tent with the simply negative attitude that 
throws no hindrance in the way of religious 
progress; it must go beyond this to positive 
encouragement of all the forces that upbuild its 
moral and spiritual strength. Washington, in 
his Farewell Address, called " religion and 
morality the indispensable supports" and af- 
firmed that " The mere politician, equally with 
the pious man, ought to respect and cherish 
them." And yet this good thing, the indis- 
pensable requisite to personal and corporate hap- 
piness and safety, must not be forced upon the 
people by law ; and the humblest citizen must 
be absolutely free in his religious opinions, 

[6s] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

ideals, and actions. This regime of liberty of 
conscience and consequent separation of Church 
and State has not only benefited the state, it has 
contributed to the growth of religion. In no 
other part of the world has organized religion, 
as represented in the churches, made such prog- 
ress or achieved such real power. The Federal 
Council of Churches in its Year Book for 1920 
gives the following remarkable statistics : 

All Protestant churches (communicants) 25,980,456 

Roman Catholics (baptized members) 17,549,324 

Jewish members in synagogues (heads of fami- 
lies) 260,000 

Mormons 494,388 

Greek Orthodox 119,871 

Russian Orthodox 99,681 

Syrian Orthodox 50,000 

Total membership in religious bodies 44,788,036 

Increase since 1916 2,861,182 

Increase in number of church organizations, 

6,341 ; total 233.834 

Increase in number of ministers, priests and 

rabbis, 3,519 : total 195,315 

The influence and power of these organized 
bodies of religious believers is recognized and 
respected by most of our public leaders. Their 
worth as molders of public opinion was seen by 
the President and his counselors during the World 

[66] 



The Romance of Religious Liberty 

War and frequent appeal was made to them for 
patriotic support. Liberty Bond Sales, and 
War Work drives, found in and through these 
organized churches their best agents for pub- 
licity in reaching the great heart of the Ameri- 
can people. 

Freed from the domination of the mighty 
ecclesiastical machines in Europe, working in an 
environment congenial to its genius and spirit, 
the religion of Jesus found in America its great- 
est opportunity to illustrate its power and make 
its conquest of human hearts and social institu- 
tions. 

In this freedom of religious opinion and this 
untrammeled activity of religious forces, is the 
promise and potency of a yet nobler life for the 
American people. 

At the present hour the nation is struggling 
in the backwash of the great war. A mighty 
tide of thoughtless indifference, conscienceless 
greed, and moral laxity seems to be sweeping 
over the land, but these things are only tem- 
porary, they are the reactions from the nerve 
tension of the years of conflict. 

The great heart of the American people is 
sound, and ultimately will respond to the call of 
its vision beautiful. Millions of the followers 

[67] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

of the lowly Nazarene have not forgotten the 
religious foundations of the nation, and multi- 
tudes are praying for America as Kipling prayed 
for Britain: 

God of our fathers known of old, 
Lord of our far-flung battle-line, 

Beneath whose awful hand we hold 
Dominion over palm and pine ; 

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, 

Lest we forget, lest we forget. 



[68] 



VI 



THE ROMANCE OF MANIFEST 
DESTINY 



THE ROMANCE OF MANIFEST 
DESTINY 



SOMETIMES America has been compared to 
Don Quixote, the gallant but crack-brained 
hero, of Cervantes romance; but her spirit and 
mission is more like that of Sir Galahad and 
his fellow knights of the Round Table setting 
forth to defend the poor and weak and uphold 
the good and true. Our country does not attack 
figments of the imagination. The enemies she 
assails are real, and the good she essays is worth 
while. 

Of course it is perfectly competent to ask, Has 
America been true to her inheritance of high 
principle? Has she followed the vision beau- 
tiful as seen in patriots' dream? Does she yet 
cherish those nobler things that have made her 
great in times past ? 

It must be confessed that sometimes the light 
lias failed, sometimes the madness of desire for 
leadership or for material possession has blinded 
our people, sometimes principles have been sub- 

[71] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

verted by policies and ideals debased by ambi- 
tions. But we must judge nations, not by lluc- 
tuating- standards, not by passing moods of 
passion or desire, but by their deeper experiences, 
their carefully thought-out acts and policies. 

^Moreover. America is still in her youth. She 
is thrilling with the currents of youthful life. 
and it would be strange if she did not possess 
some follies and immaturities. But each year is 
bringing the nation nearer to her zenith and her 
golden age of achievement. 

Our country has a right to rejoice in the ro- 
mantic past; to be proud of the marvelous 
growth by which the few weak settlements skirt- 
ing the Eastern ocean were transformed into a 
mighty nation whose empire stretches from sea 
to sea and from the ice-bound regions of Alaskan 
mountains to the sun- warmed valleys of South- 
ern California; she has a right to be grateful in 
the possession of her heritage of political prin- 
ciple and religious idealism and in the develop- 
ment of the splendid civilization built upon these 
foundations. 

These things represent generations of patient 
labor, of patriotic sacrifice, of loyal love and de- 
votion, and they cannot be cherished too highly. 
The cost in blood and sacrifice of building the 

[72] 



The Romance of Manifest Destiny 



nation has been so immense, and the benefits of 
American traditions and institutions are so 
obvious, that it becomes the duty of every citi- 
zen to cherish what has been distinctive in na- 
tional life, and to maintain the prevailing con- 
ceptions of government and civilization. The 
nation has the right to guard itself from enemies 
within as well as from enemies without. This 
protection involves the recognition of several 
fundamental principles. It is the undeniable 
right of the nation to determine who shall have 
the benefit of its citizenship; to reject any form 
of culture that may seem objectionable; and to 
debar from its privileges those who seek to break 
down its principles and institutions or to thrust 
upon it a strange and unwelcome culture. 

The recognition of these principles is neces- 
sary if America is to check some of the influ- 
ences now undermining the nation's social, po- 
litical, and religious foundations. 

It is not the inalienable right of philosophical, 
or theoretical anarchists to exploit the people, to 
press destructive theories, couched in alluring 
language, upon the unsuspecting public, and un- 
der the guise of liberty and free speech to shatter 
the pillars of society. 

It is not the privilege of the individual or of 

17^^ 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

any group of individuals to refuse to obey a law 
of the land because that law does not meet their 
approval or interferes with their business or 
pleasure. When the properly constituted repre- 
sentatives of the people, or the people themselves 
by direct legislation, place upon the statute-book 
an enactment, it becomes the duty of all to re- 
spect and obey it. Secret or open violation 
classes the violators as anarchists and enemies 
of the government. It is the privilege of the 
citizen to seek the amendment or repeal of what 
he deems obnoxious legislation, but as long as 
it remains a law, loyal and patriotic men will 
give it obedience. 

It is not the natural right of the foreigner to 
become a citizen or even to enjoy the benefits of 
our national prosperity. To the foreign-born, 
both residence in our country and citizenship 
are privileges conferred by the generosity of a 
free people. No man compels the alien to come 
to America, and he remains here only of his 
own free choice. If he becomes a resident of 
any part of our country, or a citizen by his own 
voluntary act, he has no right to subvert or con- 
travene the laws and institutions that he takes 
oath to uphold and defend. And the nation, 
when it confers the privilege of citizenship with 

[74] 



The Romance of Manifest Destiny 

its free speech and liberty of action, does not 
confer the right to corrupt or destroy its forms 
and laws and liberties. 

These protective reservations are essential to 
the nation's prosperity and perpetuity, but they 
must not be so interpreted as to debar discussion 
of methods and policies or to prevent expansion 
and progress in accordance with a nation's just 
ambitions and highest ideals. 

John Robinson, the Pilgrim pastor, urged his 
people to keep hearts and minds open to the 
Divine Spirit, for " God hath more truth and 
light yet to break out of his Holy Word." And 
this must be the attitude of the American people 
in this present hour of world crisis and in the 
years to come. 

Apparently America is destined for interna- 
tional leadership. Her splendid past, with its 
record of great achievements; her material re- 
sources that assure ability to carry forward any 
projects that are undertaken; her unselfish 
purpose, manifested so often, not to take ad- 
vantage of the weakness of neighbors or the 
woes of the race; her magnificent and rapidly 
enlarging forces for righteousness — these are all 
assurances of the leadership of the United States 
in the affairs of the world. 

[75] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

What definite form this leadership will assume 
and how it will function must be determined 
by the progress of events, but its effectiveness 
will be measured by our ability, our attitude 
toward international tasks, and the confidence 
we beget in other peoples. 

The nations need us, as the man on the way 
to Jericho who fell among thieves needed the 
Good Samaritan, to bind up their wounds and 
play the part of friend. 

They need us to show the way to a democracy 
that is well ordered and law-abiding. They 
need us to supply the initiative, force, and en- 
couragement that will aid them to rise out of 
their chaos and blighting sorrow to the attain- 
ment of their racial and national hopes and aspi- 
rations. They need us to set the example of 
unselfish universal brotherhood, that an interna- 
tional consciousness of unity and fellowship may 
be established among men. 

Human history makes it evident that God calls 
nations, even as he calls individuals, to function 
differently, to engage in special and direct mis- 
sions of service. 

The Greek was called to develop a language, 
a language so beautiful and so expressive that 
it could be used as the vehicle for expressing 

[76] 



The Romance of Manifest Destiny 

the finest shades of philosophical thought, and 
above all, as the medium through which the 
Great Teacher of Nazareth could express the 
noblest, the supreme revelation of God to his 
creatures. 

The Roman was summoned to enlarge the 
world's conception of the majesty of law, to 
formulate principles of justice that could be the 
basis of jurisprudence for the nations. 

The Jew was called to be the religious con- 
servator of the race; to receive a divine revela- 
tion; to be taught and to impart to the world 
a monotheistic conception of a spiritual God, a 
conception that might form the basis of a yet 
greater conception when the fulness of time ar- 
rived and the Saviour of the world was born. 

The British were called to develop a world 
empire, to establish orderly governments in the 
world of paganism, to open doors ' and build 
highways for the missionaries of the Christian 
faith. 

The language and the law, the message and 
the open door have been supplied. The one thing 
lacking in the cycle of providence is the servant 
who will deliver the message. This choicest 
mission, this crowning duty, this last final call 
of honor has been reserved for America. To 

177} 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

this country so richly blessed of God is given 
the supreme joy and opportunity of illustrating 
the Divine Master's word, " He that is greatest 
among you shall be your servant." 

In the sweep of continental history Africa is 
the continent of darkness, Asia the continent of 
mystery, Europe the continent of sorrow, and 
America the continent of hope. 

With the dawning light of hope in their eyes, 
the peoples of the earth turn toward this land 
of promise. It is such a suffering, bleeding 
world, staggering blindly in its darkness and 
ignorance, and torn by prejudice and passion; 
but it is fighting for the light, and struggling 
toward a new day of peace and rest. To 
America has been given the divine opportunity 
of meeting these mighty needs of mankind and 
leading the way to a new era of peace and 
brotherhood. 

God has blessed the nation with marvelous 
material resources and unmeasured spiritual 
powers, and given it preeminence in the counsels 
of human government. 

And these blessings, if we would continue to 
receive them, must be shared with our fellow 
men. Surely America has *' come to the king- 
dom for such a time as this," that it might 

[78] 



The Romance of Manifest Destiny 

through its blessed ministry and sacrifice lead 
the way to the consummation of humanity's 
hopes and dreams. 

It is conceivable that the ages to come may 
witness the rise of a nation greater than the 
United States — a nation with larger material 
resources at its command, with noble idealism 
more firmly intrenched in its policies and life, 
and with more undisputed leadership in world 
affairs. It would be difficult, however, to 
imagine a nation whose beginnings and rise to 
power and present conditions would contain 
more elements of romantic appeal. 

America has been charged with sordidness, 
and yet, as we have been trying to suggest, tap 
the stream of her history anywhere, and beneath 
the appearance of materialism you discover a 
romantic idealism that stirs the heart, and a 
romance of divine providence that is not 
matched in human history. From the days 
when the golden-haired Vikings in their little 
ships coasted the shores of Martha's Vineyard 
to this age of giant enterprise in industry and 
finance and in education and religion, the note 
of the marvelous prevails in our national life. 
In territorial expansion, in racial development, in 
material growth, in political advancement, in re- 

[79 ] 



The Romance of American Life and Progress 

ligious extension, in ever}' realm of national life, 
the nation has rubbed the Aladdin lamp and 
miracles liave been performed for its benefit. 

Patriotism and religion have always found 
their values enhanced, their kingship in the hu- 
man heart made sure by the atmosphere of 
romance. I^lace the romantic developments of 
our national life in their right setting, tell their 
wonderful story in the light and glory of the 
idealism that belongs to them, and our citizens 
will be inspired to knightly deed and noble pur- 
pose. Our people, young and old alike, will feel 
for America as did Burns for Scotland when he 
sang concerning his youthful love for native 
land: 

E'n then a wish, (I mind its power,) 
A wish that to my latest hour 

Shall strongly heave my breast ; 
That I for poor auld Scotland's sake. 
Some useful plan, or book could make, 

Or sing a sang at least. 

And men of religious faith will give deeper 
interpretations of this marvelous history, for 
they will discover the hand of God and will ex- 
claim with the Psalmist : ** Happy is that people, 
that is in such a case : yea, happy is that people 
whose God is the Lord ! *' 

[80] 



